The Next Best Book Club discussion

Object of the Game: To have read off the most shelves from the official list below.

Start: August 1, 2011
*Any book that you finish after this date can be used for this challenge.
End: October 31, 2011

1. To have read a book off a shelf, you must read a book that is found on that particular shelf. i.e. to have read a book off the classics shelf, you must read a book that is found on the "classics" shelf within the first page.
Here is how you find the page:
-Find the book you just read and click on it so you get to the original page. For example: Pride and Prejudice
-After you get to this page, look all the way to the right hand side and scroll down a little to find "See Top Shelves", click on it and you should get to this page which is a list of the most popular shelves for Pride and Prejudice. Now you mark off the shelves you you "touched" from our list of Shelf-a-Thon 9 shelves.

2. A single book may be found on several shelves however we will only count the first page of top shelves for this book. For example, you may find a book that has 148+ pages of shelves (such as Pride and Prejudice), but only count the first page.

3. You don’t have to read off the shelves in any particular order of shelves.

4. The name of shelves must MATCH EXACTLY to the shelf you are trying to count. No deviations are acceptable (check the spelling off the official list below). For example one shelf reads: 2008-books and another 2008-book or childrens or children-s.

5. It is permissible to read a book that is found on a shelf you've already counted. I may read 10 books that include the shelf "books-i-own". After you have found this shelf once, continue to check off the same shelf, but do not count it as an additional shelf. At the end of the round, report the shelf you hit the most.

6. Reporting:

All we want you to report on the thread is the number of books you've read and the number of shelves these books are found on. Do not report titles because that will give your competitors a strategic edge. I will be creating a another thread where people can post questions on where to find a shelf. So if someone is looking specifically for economics, they can ask other players where they found that shelf. Some of us would like to keep this a secret, as it may give the competitors who are trying to get the most shelves more of an advantage.

For example:
52 shelves
2 books

b. You must track the titles read and the shelves on your own. You can come up with your own method of tracking. I personally print the list and highlight the shelves I have hit, but someone out there may have made a excel spreadsheet, which can be requested by other players via email.

7.HOW DO I GET RID OF SHELVES I CAN'T TOUCH??
If you read a book with a certain amount of pages, you can cross off a shelf you are finding difficult to hit. If you cross off a shelf and later hit it, you cannot change your original shelf. You must choose another shelf to cross off.
* 400 pages - Mark off 1 extra shelf of your choice
* Over 500 pages - Mark off 2 extra shelves of your choice
* Over 600 pages - Mark off 3 extra shelves of your choice
* Over 700-1000 and over pages - Mark off 4 extra shelves of your choice
(Please include this in your reporting)
For example:
216 shelves
23 books
Book over 400 pages crossed off so and so shelf.

8.At the end of the first month, the top three shelvers will be allowed to cross off 3 shelves. I will also randomly (names out of a hat) pick 3 people to cross off 2 shelves of their choice. At the end of the second month, the shelvers with the biggest change in their number of shelves will be allowed to cross off 3 shelves. I will also do the 3 random shelvers thing again.

9.We will continue to celebrate GR authors, so if you read a book by a Goodreads author, you can eliminate one shelf.

9. Objective
The "winner" is one who has either read off all 350 shelves noted on the official list or who has read the most off these 350 shelves by the end date, July 31st.

*Also, please post the shelf you 'touched' the most at the end of the challenge.

**This is still Angela's challenge, I'm just trying to keep it going until she's ready to take charge again. Hope it is smooth-ish sailing. - Adrienne

Here are the shelves!!!

2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2000s
2008-reads
2009-books
2009-reads
2010-books
2010-read
2010-reads
2011-books
2011-read
2011-reads
20th-century
21st-century
4-stars
5-stars
abandoned
academic
action
action-adventure
adult
adult-fiction
adventure
all-time-favorites
already-read
america
american
american-history
and
animals
anthologies
anthology
anthropology
arc
art
at-library
audio
audio-book
audio-books
audiobook
audiobooks
autobiography
biographies
biography
biography-memoir
book
book-club
bookclub
bookcrossing
books
books-i-own
books-i-own-to-read
books-i-want
books-owned
books-read-in-2009
books-read-in-2010
books-read-in-2011
books-to-buy
bookshelf
borrowed
british
business
calibre
chick-lit
chicklit
childhood
childhood-books
childhood-favorites
children
children-s
children-s-books
children-s-lit
children-s-literature
childrens
childrens-books
childrens-fiction
childrens-lit
childrens-picture-books
childrensbooks
christian
christian-fiction
christianity
classic
classics
collection
college
comedy
comic
comics
coming-of-age
contemporary
contemporary-fiction
contemporary-romance
cookbooks
cooking
couldn-t-finish
crime
criticism
culture
did-not-finish
didn-t-finish
do-not-own
don-t-own
drama
e-book
e-books
ebook
ebooks
ebooks-i-own
economics
education
electronic-library
england
english
erotic-romance
erotica
essays
europe
family
fantasy
fantasy-sci-fi
favorite
favorite-authors
favorite-books
favorites
favourites
feminism
fiction
film
finished
first-reads
food
for-review
for-school
french
friendship
from-the-library
fun
funny
gay
general
general-fiction
german
glbt
graphic
graphic-novel
graphic-novels
guilty-pleasures
hardcover
harlequin
have
have-read
health
high-school
historical
historical-fiction
historical-romance
history
home-library
horror
humor
humour
i-own
i-own-it
i-own-this
in-english
in-my-library
indonesian
inspirational
japanese
juvenile
juvenile-fiction
keepers
kids
kids-books
kindle
kindle-books
language
library
library-book
library-books
lit
literary
literary-fiction
literature
love
m-m
magic
manga
maybe
maybe-to-read
memoir
memoirs
middle-grade
might-read
military
mine
mm
modern
music
must-read
my-books
my-favorites
my-library
mysteries
mystery
mystery-suspense
mystery-thriller
mythology
nature
need-to-buy
need-to-get
never-finished
non-fiction
nonfiction
nook
not-at-library
not-owned
not-read
nothing-yet
novel
novels
on-hold
on-my-bookshelf
other
own
own---not-read
own-a-copy
own-but-not-read
own-it
own-not-read
own-to-read
owned
owned-books
owned-copy
paperback
paranormal
paranormal-romance
parenting
part-of-a-series
partially-read
personal-library
philosophy
photography
picture-book
picture-books
picturebooks
poetry
political
politics
print
psychology
public-library
re-read
read-2008
read-2009
read-2010
read-2011
read-aloud
read-in-2007
read-in-2008
read-in-2009
read-in-2010
read-in-2011
read-more-than-once
realistic-fiction
recommended
reference
relationships
religion
religious
reread
review
reviewed
romance
school
sci-fi
sci-fi-fantasy
science
science-fiction
science-fiction-fantasy
scifi
scifi-fantasy
second-hand-bookshop-wishlist
self-help
series
sf
sf-fantasy
short
short-stories
short-story
signed
sociology
speculative-fiction
spiritual
spirituality
sports
stories
supernatural
suspense
tbr
teen
teen-fiction
textbooks
theology
theory
thriller
thrillers
to-acquire
to-buy
to-get
to-purchase
to-re-read
to-read-fiction
to-read-own
to-reread
to-review
travel
unfinished
unread
unsorted
urban-fantasy
vampires
want
want-to-buy
want-to-own
want-to-read
wanted
war
warehouse
we-own
western
wish-list
wishlist
women
writing
ya
ya-books
ya-fiction
young-adult
young-adult-fiction
youngadult
youth


Be careful, one of those shelves really does say "own (dash dash dash) not (dash) read".

Feel free to post any questions here.

if i did it right - here is a google doc link to the shelves in excel - https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B4wg...

on a personal note - I would love to see if someone could do the challenge without using any bonus cross-off's ;)

I couldn't get to the link, Dee.

I very nearly did the challenge without any cross-offs last time, but I didn't come anywhere near finishing. I'm pretty sure that's not what you had in mind. I just ended up reading short books by people who aren't GR authors. LOL.

try now - https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B4wg... - i think I fixed the privacy issue...

Adrienne wrote: "I couldn't get to the link, Dee.

I very nearly did the challenge without any cross-offs last time, but I didn't come anywhere near finishing. I'm pretty sure that's not what you had in mind. I j..."

that's sorta what I was thinking - I don't know if anyone could do it, so it would make it a real challenge - not that finishing this already isn't ;)

I think i might try

Ah! There it goes. Thanks, Dee!

You just go on ahead with that. I'm all for it. I'll cheer you on!

its not like i ever finish it anyways...but since I see this challenge as a way to explore my reading horizons, crossing off shelves that i don't like/want to read etc seems (at least to me) to defeat the purpose

That is a very good point.

Dee wrote: "its not like i ever finish it anyways...but since I see this challenge as a way to explore my reading horizons, crossing off shelves that i don't like/want to read etc seems (at least to me) to def..."

On the other hand, many of the shelves have nothing to do with genre - "warehouse," "to purchase," "tbr," etc. So, crossing off many of these shelves doesn't affect your reading horizons. I often find this type of shelf the hardest to hit, since it's pretty random.

Also, how many times do you need to read another book from a particular genre, before you can say, "yes, I've given that genre a fair try and I don't enjoy it"?

I've tried pretty much all genres by this point - I'm almost 58 and have been a voracious reader since I could read. I'm a pretty omnivorous reader, and will pick up almost anything at the library if it looks interesting or if I read an interesting review, and I've read lots of things I wouldn't otherwise have read between things I've read for Seasonal Reading Challenges and for this challenge.

There are some genres that I have tried, more than once, and do not enjoy. Reading one more, just to cross off a shelf, is not likely to change that. There are types of books that I find tedious and repetitive, that other people, maybe at a different stage of life or with different reading interests, may well enjoy. We all have different tastes in reading, which I think is great, but reading more of a particular type of book doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to "learn to like it." I'm glad the books I don't enjoy are there, for those who do, but that doesn't mean that I want to read them!

If I have to whip through a Babysitters Club book or a picture book to hit a few shelves, I can certainly do that (having raised 3 kids, I have plenty of these books hanging around) - but I don't really see this as expanding my reading horizons.

true - i think i'm just going to make it a challenge for myself, just some thoughts i've had

Thanks for hosting again, Adrienne! I appreciate the work you put into this. Hard to imagine it will be October 31 when this ends...where does time go???

Dee, I actually tried really hitting every shelf a couple SAT's back and found that it wasn't that hard (I didn't finish though). I agree that crossing off shelves which are hard is like cheating, but if everyone is doing it...

Dee wrote: "try now - https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B4wg... - i think I fixed the privacy issue..."

Thank you sooo much for the spreadsheet :) It is way better the one I created for SAT-8.

lol @ Roseann...i'm going to make it my goal to try - not like I ever finish anyways...lol!

@Pinar - no problem - I just took my SAT8 one, which was an ajustment from my SAT7 one and pasted the new shelves in

I just wanted to make sure that I'm doing this right. I finished a book yesterday, it's an older classic. I ended up crossing off 74 shelves just for that one book, those were from the first page of shelves (there were a total of 4,239 shelves for this book). It seems like I'm crossing off way too many. Did I read the rules wrong? Thanks!

nope - that's right...sometimes you'll hit alot of shelves, sometimes hardly any - luck of the draw

im confused but im going to try anyways :)

so.. heres my questions

1. books can count for more than one?
2. were do we find the books. i know where we get the groupings.... (above-- the shelf names of course)... but do we search for one of those shelfs and then pick a book.. this sounds obvious right?
3. where do i keep my list.

my head is not working today so please be patient :D

Hi, Lolita,

This is a really difficult concept to grasp at first, so don't be discouraged.

1. Yes, books count for as many shelves as you can get on the first page from the Top Shelves list.

2. I just pick books I feel like reading and hope they hit a bunch of shelves. This probably why I never finish. You could try going to a specific shelf and reading a book from it, but in my experience that doesn't always work out. If that shelf isn't on the first page of that book's Top Shelves, you can't cross it off.

3. Some people keep their list on paper. Some people keep their list on their computers on a spreadsheet. Whatever works best for you. I used to print off the list of shelves and tally mark next to the shelf every time a book "touched" it. (This is the same as "crossing it off")

Are you thoroughly confused now?

thanks for writing :) i downloaded someones excel file from here and wow... did that make it easier :)
i have added 2 of the current books i am reading. i started one yesterday , and one last week. not even half done that one..

anyways -- i already have ... drumroll... 93 shelves done :D which leaves. 257. piece of cake right :p yeah right!! the hard part is reading the darn books !!!

Sounds like you've got it!

Ok. This is the first time I have ever attempted anything like this. I think I did everything right. I read Clockwork Angel and crossed off 71 shelves. Is this the thread will be reporting our progress (if I make any LOL)?

And thank you so much DEE for making that Excel document and sharing. It is a lifesaver! I wouldn't have even attempted this without it.

think - there is a thread called Shelf-a-thon 9 reporting...you use that one for your reports - but sounds like you are on it

and I can't take credit for the spreadsheet - I got it from someone when I first started and just updated it every session since

Are we crossing off shelves for new shelves hit last time?

Adrienne wrote: "Be careful, one of those shelves really does say "own (dash dash dash) not (dash) read". "

This may turn out to be a problem - I was just reading a thread in the "Goodreads Feedback," http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/6..., and apparently they have recently removed the multiple dashes from shelf names.

I looked at the "own---not-read" shelf - it still shows on the list of shelves with the multiple dashes, but when you look at the books listed, it says they're on the "own-not-read shelf." You can still do a search for "own---not-read" in shelves - but when I looked at the first book on that list, Atonement, it only contains "own-not-read" and NOT the multiple dash shelf.

So, it seems that it will not be possible to hit any shelf that is listed with multiple dashes.

I just posted something in the feedback group about it - apparently, if you read through the posts, it is something to do with a google issue - but leading dashes and double dashes will no longer be allowed

Dee wrote: "I just posted something in the feedback group about it - apparently, if you read through the posts, it is something to do with a google issue - but leading dashes and double dashes will no longer b..."

A little while after I found this out, I went to my books because I wanted to check something on my shelf of books for summer reading challenge possibles. When I clicked on the shelf (which still showed in my list of shelves), I got the message that there were no results. Hmmm..... I then looked more closely at the name of the shelf, and found that it had a double dash in it. So, I went through the re-naming process and re-named the shelf to eliminate the extra dash. Then, when I clicked on the re-named shelf, I got my list back.

So, it's not just that double dashes will no longer be allowed - it's retroactive. The books that were on the original shelf were listed as being on that shelf name, minus the second dash.

i just wish otis had given us more notice...it went from being, i want to...to being done...no ifs ands or buts

I guess we can ask our lovely challenge runner - what her verdict is on this issue ;)

ok, so doing some playing with the own---not-read shelf...which is the only shelf that has more than one hyphen on the list

if you go to http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/o... - books show on the shelf, but they show as shelved as own-not-read

Dee wrote: "I guess we can ask our lovely challenge runner - what her verdict is on this issue ;)

ok, so doing some playing with the own---not-read shelf...which is the only shelf that has more than one hyphe..."

Right, that was what I found.

Adrienne - can we get your ruling on the double/triple hyphens issue - since GR has removed them from shelves, but they still show up on the popular shelves list

What was the decision? If it has multiple hyphens to we just cross it off? I'm confused.

Sorry about the long delay. I have been trying to work out the issues involved with this and how it affects our purposes for this challenge.

I think for SAT9, we will give everyone a free cross-off for the one shelf that has that multiple dash. There is only the one. In future incarnations of the challenge it will not be a problem since Goodreads has taken care of all the shelves with the multiple dashes so they will no longer show up in the list of top shelves.

Does everyone agree with this? I'm sorry if you actually hit that shelf with a real book and then the shelf disappeared. I'm not sure how else to rectify the situation at this point.

I think that's a good solution. Thanks, Adrienne!

works for me - I was going to say, I could send you the screen capture of the shelf with the triple hyphens and then how it shows when you look at the shelf name...I like your answer ;)

Adrienne wrote: "Sorry about the long delay. I have been trying to work out the issues involved with this and how it affects our purposes for this challenge.

I think for SAT9, we will give everyone a free cross-o..."

sounds like a good plan, Adrienne - thanks!

I'm fine with it and I even had a book on that shelf :)

i need help finding bookshelves... but i dont want to cheat and ask you guys BUT any hints on how to do it....

2003 for example...

Oooh. Sorry it took so long to get back to you, Lolita. My internet has been down. :( Here's how to find a shelf.

Click on the pull down menu next to the Explore tab at the top of the page and choose Popular. Then, you get a little box on the right and one of the options is By Year. Choose 2003 and 'voila'.

If you want to choose a shelf with an actual name, say Classics: Click on the pull down menu next to Explore and choose popular. Then under Browse Shelves on the right there is an option called Popular Shelves. If you click on that, you get a list on the most popular shelves (go figure). Click on the shelf you are looking for and it lists the books by the number of times they are on the shelf. Most popular book first.

Hope this helps!

you are the bestest :) ok thats not a word but if it were you would be it :D

Oh go on!